Cooking
by GamblingDementor
Summary: 30 day OTP challenge: Day twenty one, your OTP cooking. Varrick and Zhu Li are back from their honeymoon and decide to invite Bolin for dinner.


They said that their wedding was a couple's big day, but so far, Zhu Li could say each day was an improvement on the day before, each week had its lot of new adventures, each month brought them closer to one another. She supposed that was exactly what the honeymoon period was. They were still growing as a couple, learning to work together. Their love was still blossoming. It also helped that their honeymoon period had been exactly that: a honeymoon. They had been married for six weeks now and had only now come back to Republic City.

The trip had been amazing. Zhu Li had never really travelled for her own pleasure before. Sure, she and Varrick had been all over the world, but always for business purposes. Never before had she been somewhere just for sheer enjoyment of the place, just to relax and take some well deserved holidays. As a kid, she would go to the upper ring for a day at the library or at the shopping mall and that would be it.

That was not Varrick's way of doing things, though. He had dragged her on a weeks long journey going through all nations. They had been to Ba Sing Se, Omashu, the coasts of the Eastern Earth Kingdom (or rather former Earth Kingdom), to the Fire Nation and its volcanoes, even to the Northern Water Tribe, though their stay there had been a lot shorter than expected, considering the resentment of the people towards them. Finally, they had been to the Southern Water Tribe to relax for a few days in Varrick's mansion. They had travelled on the Zhu Li, which Varrick had had redesigned to her taste. She had really appreciated the addition of a library, a spa (he was _amazing _at massages. That Varrick touch…) and a huge soft bed.

All in all, Zhu Li still felt like she was on cloud nine, and even now that they were back in Republic City, he cherished her and lavished her with attention. But life was starting again and they could not simply spend their whole life away from the world, away from the people they knew.

"You know, Zhu Li," he told her the day they came back home, "I want to invite Bolin to eat at our place tonight."

"Should I make the reservations?"

"Reservations for what?"

"The restaurant. I think his favourite place is Narook's Seaweed Noodlery."

"Nonsense! We're not going to the restaurant! I'm cooking!"

Zhu Li was about to smirk at the ridiculous idea when she realized he was being perfectly serious. That sounded dangerous.

"Are you sure you want to do it? You know I'm a perfectly capable cook."

"Are you implying I'm not, dear?"

"I'm not implying it, I'm saying it. You're a terrible cook, Varrick."

He pouted.

"Well I'm going to prove I'm not! Now shoo, kitchen is mine until tonight! Just call Bolin and tell him dinner's at eight!"

Bolin was delighted to be invited. He said he had missed them a lot and that he hoped they had bought him a gift, then apologized when he realized he should not ask for gifts like that. In the end, they had a very pleasant little chat − Zhu Li enjoyed talking to Bolin, considering he was one of her only friends − and he had promised to come. After that, Zhu Li had put taken care of their luggage: putting the clothes they had worn into the laundry basket, the clothes they had bought into their wardrobe (she still could not believe that they were sharing one now, as husband and wife), the presents for friends in the living room to not forget them and the books she had bought for herself in the library. It was a well spent afternoon and she almost forgot about Varrick's plans until a strong smell filled the house a few minutes before eight and she had no other option than to barge into the kitchen.

"Varrick, what happened?!"

She was met by a grinning Varrick covered in food stains from head to toes. He had soy sauce in his hair and flour on his moustache. Fortunately, he was wearing an apron, otherwise his elegant vest would have been covered with bean paste, red pepper and a strange looking green substance that did not bode well.

"What do you mean, what happened? I'm cooking! I'm almost done!"

He pointed to the table where a few plates were lined up.

Now that was disastrous. She tried to smile and pretend everything was okay, but she simply couldn't. The first plate had a mixture of rice and what looked like eggs, but the whole thing was a strange shade of purple that looked unhealthy to Zhu Li and she was not entirely sure it was supposed to be eaten. The second plate contained burnt rice. Zhu Li was not exactly aware that rice could be burnt to crisp, but there was the evidence, right in front of her eyes. There was a bowl filled with overcooked veggies, another one with meat that was so cooked it was black all around. Finally, the last bowl contained a pink gooey substance that looked like nothing Zhu Li had ever seen.

"What's that?"

"Cookies, of course! For dessert!"

She thought of something to say, but nothing came to her mind right now. Varrick had actually managed to make her lose her mind for a while.

"We can't serve that."

"What? Why not?!"

"Because it's not edible."

"Now you're just being mean!"

"No, what would be mean is serve this to Bolin. We're not eating this tonight."

He was pouting and looked so sincerely sad that she stepped up to him to give him a hug. He held her so tight she thought she would explode, and she patted his back.

"It's okay, love. I can teach you how to cook some other day."

"I just really wanted to surprise you both with some of my own work!"

"You can do that another time. I'm sure you'll be a great cook once you learn how to do it."

He sniffed.

"Will you teach me how to do the thing?"

"Always."

"I love you, Zhu Li."

"I love you too. But I still won't eat that."

"So, what should we do?"

Varrick was the one who opened the door when Bolin rang a few minutes later.

"Hey, Varrick! How was the trip?"

"Perfect! How else, a trip planned by me?"

Bolin laughed and stepped inside the house.

"Hey, not so fast, kid."

"What do you mean?"

"We're actually going out tonight."

"Oh really? Where?"

"Narook's Seaweed Noodlery."

"Ooooh that's like my favourite place! Wow!"

"What can I say, kid? I'm just a mind reader."


End file.
